Nathanael Greene Middle School is located on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island. This school includes grades 6 - 8 and serves approximately 870 students each year. The majority of students who attend NGMS are Hispanic, but there is also a high proportion that are Caucasian and African American. There is a teacher-student ratio of 1 : 17, and approximately 50 teachers total. This report aims to inform the general public of the the amount of students at NGMS that are proficient in math, reading, and writing, whether or not students are reading the No Child Left Behind standards, the health of its students, and the teaching practices that occur in the classroom. I have found that NGMS is doing an adequate job of preparing its students for high school and their future, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Assessments
NGMS seems to be similar to many schools in the Providence area in terms of assessment, but is in fact behind in terms of the state of Rhode Island. This graph shows that children fall behind every year in both reading and math. Also, writing scores are tested in grade 8 which seems to be on the low side, with only 44% of children above proficiency or proficient. The performance progress on the RI Works website indicates that NGMS is about average with schools tested in the state in the area of math, but below compared to the rest of the state in reading and writing. It is disappointing to see scores like this so early on in students' academic careers, because it makes it more difficult to catch up later in high school. Student characteristics indicate that students living in poverty are more likely to be less proficient in math and reading than their peers who are not living in poverty. This is not extremely surprising because statistics show that students who are living in poverty are likely to be behind compared to their peers. Also, something that I found shocking was that 90% of students with disabilities were considered to be not reaching proficiency in math, and 84% were considered to not be reacing proficiency in reading. Also, the two ethinicities that are further behind than their peers are African American and Hispanic students. Asian students are the most proficient ethinicity at this school, followed by Caucasian students. It is evident that by these statistics that NGMS is not preparing their students appropriately for their future, and they will probably face many obstacles in high school because they are not where they should be academically.
Accountability
NGMS is barely meeting its targets for the No Child Left Behind Act. With the exception of students with disabilities, this school met its target in the mathematics category. However, the majority of students did not meet the language arts target. Caucasians are the only ethnicity that are meeting both of the targets, which is disappointing because there is a large proportion of Hispanic and African American population in the school. Both Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students are meeting the math requirement, but not the language arts requirement. Students with disabilities is the only group that is not meeting either, and unfortunately, is not even close to the target. These extremely low scores could reflect a potential bias in the test, and if this is the case, revisions should be made to correct this bias. However, the good news is that NGMS met and went above its participation target. Even though these scores indicate that its students are a little behind, this school was considered to make adequate yearly progress. Furthermore, NGMS was behind compared to performance progress in the state of Rhode Island, but not by a significant amount. This data allows us to conclude that NGMS is meeting its NCLB requirements, but just barely.
Health
Middle School is a time where students are developing habits that are likely to stay with them for the rest of their lives, and it should be a priority for parents and educators to make sure that these habits are healthy. However, it seems that the majority of students at NGMS are not developing habits that will be beneficial to them in the future. About 15% of students reported that they had used illegal drugs and 25% reported that they had drank alcohol at least once within the last 30 days. When students are engaging in behaviors like this early on in adolescence, it is possible that habits like these will become worse and more destructive in the higher grades. Even more shocking was the amount of students (60%) that reported that they watched TV 2 hours a day or more. This is a decent amount, especially when scores on state assessments are lower than they should be. Also, 40% of students reported that they get 7 hours of sleep or less a night, which could also be leading to lower test results and hinder students' attention during the school day. Furthermore, approximately 35% of students reported that they perceive themselves to have problems with acne, their weight, or height. Middle school is the time where puberty is taking place, and confidence can be put to the test. The fact that students at NGMS are already experimenting with alcohol and drugs, coupled with their percieved "flaws" and lack of exercise and sleep, leads me to conclude that these students' health is already in a decline. Middle school should be the time where parents and schools are doing their best to promote healthy habits that will stick for the rest of these students' lives, and it seems that this is not being done.
Teaching Practices
Something that I believe gets overlooked too frequently in accountability and assessment heavy schools is the teaching practices that occur everyday in the classroom. It is important to look at what skills students are being taught (or not being taught) because they will need certain skills later in life. 61% of teachers from NGMS reported that they provide students with instruction in writing skills at least weekly, which is something that students definitely need in order to be prepared for high school and college. This score is lower than the state average of 71%, which suggests that students at NGMS are not as prepared as other students in writing skills . Even more frightening was that a lower percentage, 59%, of teachers reported that students are taught problem solving and decision making strategies weekly. In other middle schools, 70% of teachers are teaching problem solving skills weekly, which means that the students at NGMS are not learning the same skills as their peers in other schools. These skills are extremely important for students to learn in middle school because the earlier they are taught, the more natural they become, and will facilitate learning in high school and later in life. Also, only 27% of students revise their reports or papers, which is also a skill that students should be taught early in their academic careers.
Conclusion
It seems that NGMS is a middle school that is doing a medicore job in many aspects of their students' education. Assessments results show that students are falling behind every year that they are there, and are behind when compared to other students in the state. Even though their scores are probably not the worst in the state, they indicate that students are not being Furthermore, NGMS is making its NCLB targets, but just barely. It is not up to par on language arts requirements, which could be because of ESL learners, or perhaps a less visible factor. Also, students have reported that they are engaging in behaviors that are likely to be damaging to their health and well-being in the future, like using illegal drugs, alcohol, and not sleeping enough. While it is not the sole responsibility of the teachers and administrators to make sure that students have healthy habits and making good decisions, schools should make sure that they are stressing how important these habits are. Teachers reported that strategies that could be beneficial to students later in the academic career, giving feedback on students' writing and teaching problem-solving strategies, are not being used the majority of the time in the classroom. It is evident that NGMS is doing an average to slightly below average of preparing their students for high school and the rest of their lives, but this is likely to decline with the way things seem to be going. NGMS needs to make serious changes in order to improve the quality of their students' education.
Nathanael Greene Middle School
District: Providence
Author: Rachel Jones
Introduction
Nathanael Greene Middle School is located on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island. This school includes grades 6 - 8 and serves approximately 870 students each year. The majority of students who attend NGMS are Hispanic, but there is also a high proportion that are Caucasian and African American. There is a teacher-student ratio of 1 : 17, and approximately 50 teachers total. This report aims to inform the general public of the the amount of students at NGMS that are proficient in math, reading, and writing, whether or not students are reading the No Child Left Behind standards, the health of its students, and the teaching practices that occur in the classroom. I have found that NGMS is doing an adequate job of preparing its students for high school and their future, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.Assessments
NGMS seems to be similar to many schools in the Providence area in terms of assessment, but is in fact behind in terms of the state of Rhode Island. This graph shows that children fall behind every year in both reading and math. Also, writing scores are tested in grade 8 which seems to be on the low side, with only 44% of children above proficiency or proficient. The performance progress on the RI Works website indicates that NGMS is about average with schools tested in the state in the area of math, but below compared to the rest of the state in reading and writing. It is disappointing to see scores like this so early on in students' academic careers, because it makes it more difficult to catch up later in high school. Student characteristics indicate that students living in poverty are more likely to be less proficient in math and reading than their peers who are not living in poverty. This is not extremely surprising because statistics show that students who are living in poverty are likely to be behind compared to their peers. Also, something that I found shocking was that 90% of students with disabilities were considered to be not reaching proficiency in math, and 84% were considered to not be reacing proficiency in reading. Also, the two ethinicities that are further behind than their peers are African American and Hispanic students. Asian students are the most proficient ethinicity at this school, followed by Caucasian students. It is evident that by these statistics that NGMS is not preparing their students appropriately for their future, and they will probably face many obstacles in high school because they are not where they should be academically.
Accountability
NGMS is barely meeting its targets for the No Child Left Behind Act. With the exception of students with disabilities, this school met its target in the mathematics category. However, the majority of students did not meet the language arts target. Caucasians are the only ethnicity that are meeting both of the targets, which is disappointing because there is a large proportion of Hispanic and African American population in the school. Both Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students are meeting the math requirement, but not the language arts requirement. Students with disabilities is the only group that is not meeting either, and unfortunately, is not even close to the target. These extremely low scores could reflect a potential bias in the test, and if this is the case, revisions should be made to correct this bias. However, the good news is that NGMS met and went above its participation target. Even though these scores indicate that its students are a little behind, this school was considered to make adequate yearly progress. Furthermore, NGMS was behind compared to performance progress in the state of Rhode Island, but not by a significant amount. This data allows us to conclude that NGMS is meeting its NCLB requirements, but just barely.
Health
Middle School is a time where students are developing habits that are likely to stay with them for the rest of their lives, and it should be a priority for parents and educators to make sure that these habits are healthy. However, it seems that the majority of students at NGMS are not developing habits that will be beneficial to them in the future. About 15% of students reported that they had used illegal drugs and 25% reported that they had drank alcohol at least once within the last 30 days. When students are engaging in behaviors like this early on in adolescence, it is possible that habits like these will become worse and more destructive in the higher grades. Even more shocking was the amount of students (60%) that reported that they watched TV 2 hours a day or more. This is a decent amount, especially when scores on state assessments are lower than they should be. Also, 40% of students reported that they get 7 hours of sleep or less a night, which could also be leading to lower test results and hinder students' attention during the school day. Furthermore, approximately 35% of students reported that they perceive themselves to have problems with acne, their weight, or height. Middle school is the time where puberty is taking place, and confidence can be put to the test. The fact that students at NGMS are already experimenting with alcohol and drugs, coupled with their percieved "flaws" and lack of exercise and sleep, leads me to conclude that these students' health is already in a decline. Middle school should be the time where parents and schools are doing their best to promote healthy habits that will stick for the rest of these students' lives, and it seems that this is not being done.
Teaching Practices
Something that I believe gets overlooked too frequently in accountability and assessment heavy schools is the teaching practices that occur everyday in the classroom. It is important to look at what skills students are being taught (or not being taught) because they will need certain skills later in life. 61% of teachers from NGMS reported that they provide students with instruction in writing skills at least weekly, which is something that students definitely need in order to be prepared for high school and college. This score is lower than the state average of 71%, which suggests that students at NGMS are not as prepared as other students in writing skills . Even more frightening was that a lower percentage, 59%, of teachers reported that students are taught problem solving and decision making strategies weekly. In other middle schools, 70% of teachers are teaching problem solving skills weekly, which means that the students at NGMS are not learning the same skills as their peers in other schools. These skills are extremely important for students to learn in middle school because the earlier they are taught, the more natural they become, and will facilitate learning in high school and later in life. Also, only 27% of students revise their reports or papers, which is also a skill that students should be taught early in their academic careers.Conclusion
It seems that NGMS is a middle school that is doing a medicore job in many aspects of their students' education. Assessments results show that students are falling behind every year that they are there, and are behind when compared to other students in the state. Even though their scores are probably not the worst in the state, they indicate that students are not being Furthermore, NGMS is making its NCLB targets, but just barely. It is not up to par on language arts requirements, which could be because of ESL learners, or perhaps a less visible factor. Also, students have reported that they are engaging in behaviors that are likely to be damaging to their health and well-being in the future, like using illegal drugs, alcohol, and not sleeping enough. While it is not the sole responsibility of the teachers and administrators to make sure that students have healthy habits and making good decisions, schools should make sure that they are stressing how important these habits are. Teachers reported that strategies that could be beneficial to students later in the academic career, giving feedback on students' writing and teaching problem-solving strategies, are not being used the majority of the time in the classroom. It is evident that NGMS is doing an average to slightly below average of preparing their students for high school and the rest of their lives, but this is likely to decline with the way things seem to be going. NGMS needs to make serious changes in order to improve the quality of their students' education.